Interview with ESPN Senior Writer, Chris Broussard Part I

With all the craziness currently surrounding sports, I thought it was imperitive to post another in the long line of top notch journalism interviews we’ve done here at TSF. I got a chance to meet Chris Broussard at the NABJ conference right after another buddy of mine Brian Cook (nominated for an award for a feature he did on Buck O’Neil) and I were talking about the blog panel I moderated. He was part of a susequent panel discussing the Black athlete along with Jemele Hill, Neil Scarborough, Justice B. Hill and David Aldridge. I’ll have the transcript of that plenary later on this week. Chris is one of the few who openly discusses his religious beliefs and in this present climate you really can’t blame him.

CB: It’s along the lines of the Autobiography of Malcom X. It’s about a Black man that went the wrong way and ended up in prison–sixteen years in prison for armed bank robbery. When he was in prison, he became a Christian. He also became an ordained minister in prison–not through correspondence classes–having Baptist ministers come into the prison and orally testing him. The same as they do on the outside. He became a minister and was released after ten years on parole. He did sixteen years total after his last bid. He became a community activist and went on to get his PhD. He did a lot of great things for the community in Cleveland.

It’s also sort of a history lesson. He grew up in North Carolina the son of sharecroppers. It talks a lot about the system of sharecropping and really how it worked against Blacks. In his teenage years, and not unlike a lot of young Black men of the time, he moved up north and lived in New York with some of his older brothers. That’s how he became involved in crime. All types of petty crime that eventually led to bank robbery. We wanted it to be a message to today’s youth. Unfortunately, a lot of our Black youth emulate the gangster or really emulate the gangsta lifestyle. Obviously, that lifestyle leads to a dead end–either to prison or the grave. He’s someone that lived that lifestyle and found a better way to live through Jesus Christ. We felt like that was a relevant and timely way to get the message out there to a lot of today’s young men. It’s been well received by the people who’ve read it. It’s been in churches where I did some book signings.

Within the last couple of years, he found himself back in trouble. He’d been out of prison for years. He started a charter school and was accused of mishandling funds. He was convicted of the crime but maintains his innocence. I haven’t spoken to him since he was convicted and I think he is in jail now.

MT: Spirituality of some form should be important to our youth so they can gain a certain consciousness about their existence. It also lends itself to a certain lifestyle that could be beneficial to us all.

CB: Spirtuality obviously is important for everyone. When you look at America, it is a society that lacks spirituality. It’s very secular. You see the fruit of that now–across racial lines. There’s just rampant immorality. We wonder why our kids are doing what they are doing. Kids are being exposed to stuff they just shouldn’t be exposed to at early ages–whether it’s TV, music or whatever. Most aren’t being led into a spiritual path by their parents. That’s just one example of not having a spiritual base and being so materialistic as a society can lead you astray. In terms of our youth, the Bible says the Lord your God is a sun and a shield. The sun obviously lights your path and shows you where to go. The shield is protection. If you look at our history, our protection was Jesus Christ and the Black church. Every major African American freedom fighter up to Malcom X had a Christian base and that’s what motivated them to fight on behalf of our people–whether it was Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas or even Marcus Garvey. Henry Highland Garnet, David Walker, Richard Allen–these are the people that started the first Black newspaper and started the first free African societies. They started mutual aid societies, Black schools, churches and insurance companies. They had a Christian base. That faith in God protected them from the stereotypical thinking of the day. The racist White slavemasters would tell them Blacks aren’t intelligent. Blacks are lazy. They can’t do this. They can’t do that. They are oversexed. All this stuff damaged and corrupted our thinking of ourselves. A lot of our people were protected from thinking this way because God is our shield. We believed what God said instead of what White society said. That’s why we could say we shall overcome against all odds. There was no reason to think that we should overcome. With this generation of Black youth, they are cut off not only from our historical spirituality, but also the rich knowledge of what our ancestors went through to get to this point. Now they don’t have the shield that protected our ancestors in the past, so they are falling prey to every stereotype that the KKK and racist White society would put on us. If you look at some of the Hip Hop videos, the way some of us are behaving publicly and the way some of us think about ourselves–insisting on calling ourselves niggas–all of this could be an advertisement for the KKK. It’s almost something out of The Birth of a Nation. We are beginning to believe the stereotypes–being oversexed, we’re thieves, you can’t trust us, we have no interest in academics–and we are acting all of this out.

A lack of spirituality is one of the main reasons, in my opinion, that we are in such a bad state as a people and it’s being fully illustrated.

Chris and I share a laugh.

MT: Man…Chris you have me kind of messed up now.

CB: I have you in church huh?

MT: Yes you do and also have me seriously thinking about my kids. That’s a good thing.

Why do you think there’s a need for the National Association of Black Journalists?

CB: Oh man! You know I’ve been a member of NABJ off and on throughout my career and I haven’t always gone to the national conferences. The last one I went to prior to this one was Orlando in 2001. In covering the NBA over the years, the NABJ conference was always during my off-season–family time. I also felt that since I was already at ESPN and the New York Times that I didn’t have to look for another job. Going last weekend showed me how important the NABJ is for all Black journalists–from the top to the ones on the edge trying to be included. It was galvanizing being around so many other Black journalists and be able to talk about a lot of the challenges that we face together. That was important. It was also good to see the young college students that were there. It was good for them to see those who have made it. Even to see the ones on TV who are “famous”. It was very inspiring for them to see us and talk to us. We have to mentor them, so I want to make a concerted effort to be more involved to hopefully affect and again inspire the younger generation of aspiring journalists.

I would love for us as a people do start doing something like this nationally, but one thing I do in my church is I have a group called Writer’s Block. It’s for teenagers that are interested in journalism–broadcast, print or what have you. I meet with them once a month and share with them my experiences. Teach them about the different forms of writing for publications and the like. I bring in guest speakers. Next week we are going up to ESPN and tour the campus so they can see what happens on and off camera. They are going to get to see the production of it all. Hopefully it will broaden their horizons and help shape what they might want to do for a living later on in life. I would love to see Blacks of other occupations do similar things–lawyers, doctors, construction workers, carpenters, landscapers and engineers. These types of things will expose our youth to being more career minded so they set goals and do what they have to do to achieve those goals. I know when I was a teenager, I had no clue about what I wanted to do, because I hadn’t been exposed to anything. The NABJ is doing that on a different level.

MT: During the excellent sports plenary on the Black athlete, you echoed a point William C. Rhoden touched on in his outstanding book Forty Million Dollar Slaves. (Which in my opinion should be referenced exponentially more than Game of Shadows, but that obviously is another topic) Mr. Rhoden spoke about the need for Black athletes to form a structured organization geared to developing more dialogue and education among themselves. Your thoughts?

CB: I thought it was a tremendous idea. It really should be across sporting lines–maybe called the Association of African American Athletes.

MT: I like that.

CB: You have associations in every sport. Even in football and basketball where the players are mostly Black, you still can’t address Black issues because you have other races that are represented.

We as a people, because of our unique history, have a different perspective on life here in America. Think about it, every other race that came here as immigrants, came here optimistically. America is the land of milk and honey in their eyes when they touched down here. We never had that luxury. African immigrants nowadays do. Things are changing obviously, but we are still three to four hundred years behind financially. It’s not close to making up all we’ve done for this country for free!

Our history is unique and our current situation is unique. We need to specifically address our issues.

It’s good to come together with other races because they need us just like we need them. We definitely need to have coalitions with them, but there needs to be times where we can meet among ourselves. No other race can fully understand what it’s been like and what it is like to be Black in America. No one but us can come up with plans to better our people but us. A lot of stuff we addressed on the panel could be discussed in such a forum.

Example: Does the Black athlete have a responsibility to the community? That could be talked about. Let everybody speak. There are going to be athletes who definitely want that committment. There are going to be those who care less. We could have leaders and older players give their thoughts–which would be great education for younger players. A lot of them might be intelligent, but they aren’t educated. Some of them are pushed through school and don’t get the great education that they need to flourish properly in society. I know it was the case with me, but most people get their sense of Black consciousness in college. That’s when you are first exposed to Black professors. You begin to read Black history books that you didn’t know existed. With me, I was always raised to be proud of my race. Pro Black, but it was almost in a pop culture sense. I loved the fact that we were great in sports and music. I never thought about the plight of our people or looked at how we can help our people. Getting that college education we would realize that we would want to help our people through that connection developed in college. A lot of our athletes aren’t doing that. Hypothetically dude just got a 100 million dollar contract. Why isn’t he helping the community in a massive way–not just building rec or community centers. Those are good, but we need major help. If you had a group of African American athletes get together, you would see a difference in the consciousness of our people. Then they would think about being not only better role models, but using their connections to help change things. We also have connections with the corporations that endorse athletes. You could get Nike to start hiring more Black people or build more computer labs in the inner city. Whatever it may be. We are endorsing all these companies so…..

We have very little leverage in this country. We need to use our resources in music, athletics, consumerism and entertainment for all of our people. I’m a “successful” individual. I could just say I got mine and not worry about anybody else, but it pains me to see the situation that we are in.

70% of our kids are born out of wedlock and 50% are raised without a father. There’s a 50% unemployment rate for Black men in major cities. In some cities 60% of Black kids are dropping out of high school. We need to wake up! You are not going to be able to survive with those kinds of things going on in the community. Especially when society has historically been against you.

I know I’ve went off on a tangent, but you could specifically address those issues if you had a Black athlete organization. We need our athletes, entertainers, journalists, lawyers, doctors, and professors to think of us as being unified. We have to use our success to impact the Black community just like everyone else does for their communities. There’s nothing wrong with having your Lexus, your BMW or your nice home. Just make sure you do for those less fortunate. Imagine if Blacks freed from slavery didn’t help out others. We would have not been liberated. It’s as simple as that. Martin Luther King was doing fine. He could have went on as a middle class preacher. He gave his life to help others and it benefited us.

I talked with Billy Hunter…maybe six years ago. He spoke of having a forum over several days where Black athletes, entertainers, spiritual leaders, economists and accountants etc., came together and came up with a plan of how to economically impact our people. It never came to pass, but one of the reasons why is that Billy represents players of all kinds of races. He can’t do specifically Black things. If you had this Black association, you could do these things. I don’t expect Kevin Garnett, Le Bron James or Chauncey Billups to know how to fix the Black educational system. There are plenty of Black professionals out there that have started schools with limited resources and done wonders. They could add some insight to others. Marva Collins and Kenny Gamble in Philadelphia…what could they do with a mass amount of money behind them?

David Robinson’s Carver Academy. You could have one of those in every major metropolitan city. Those are the things you could really sit down and discuss if you had such an organization. You have them in a lot of other fields, why not the Black athlete?

MT: Who are your friends in the field?

CB: I hate to name them because I don’t want to leave anybody out but…Stephen A. Smith is a good friend. I’ve known him since ’95. I’m very happy for all his success. When Quite Frankly was on the air, that brotha put Black journalists on there en masse.

MT: Yes he did.

CB: Young kids watching his show had to be suprised that so many Black journalists existed. He did not have a crabs in a barrell mentality.

Michael Wilbon. We’re not like hanging buddies but he and David Aldridge are two of the most genuine people you can ever meet. They never appear stuck up. I met Mike when I was at the Beacon Journal. With all his success, I’ve never felt like he was big timing me. Same with David Aldridge. Michael Holley. He’s doing radio now. We used to cover high school sports in Akron together. Mark Spears. Bill Eichenberger is an editor at Newsday. He was at the Philly Inquirer and was sports editor at the Akron Beacon Journal and gave me my first shot putting me on the Cavs beat after covering high school sports. Of course Bill Rhoden. We bounce a lot of these ideas off of each other. Very good friend. Branson Wright in Cleveland. Percy Allen, Terry Pluto, Mike Wise, Ivan Carter. I can go on and on. Sorry if I forgot anyone.

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

This entry was posted on August 22, 2007 at 9:20 am and is filed under Uncategorized . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

I was on the train one day and happend to get a seat next to him (before I knew who he was) and he was on the phone talking basketball at a very insider-ish level. When he got off the phone I asked him if he was a writer or something; he smiled and responded in the affirmative. And then we talked hoops for the next 40 minutes on the train. As it turned out, he lives in the same town I do so I see him from time to time. Talk about a genuine dude, Chis is that. I’m happy for the success and notoriety he’s received and hopefully we’ll see him moer on ESPN. BTW, apparently Chris is NOT some unathletic nerd… I’ve heard from dudes at the Y that he can really ball…

Yeah Chris, they took our ancestors off their land, shipped them over on boats in which they had to endure some of the most horrific, inhumane conditions ever. They Stripped them of their culture, language, and religion. Systematically broke families apart with little regard, and forced us to worship a thoroughly westernized, white supremacist version of Christianity that was used to justify the practice of slavery… yeah Chris, thats what helped black folks rise up, it had nothing to do with their own internal sense of social justice, that would cut across religious lines and we can’t have that now can we.

I hope in part 2 you ask him about his open hostility towards homosexuals.

Thanks, guys. I know there’s probably going to be a few comments giving you a hard time because of Broussard’s Christian beliefs, but here’s one thanking you for letting the man be himself in this interview.

Can’t wait for part 2. These interviews are a gem. Getting to know how these writers think about things other than sports is very insightful. Another great interview. Chris seems like a cool dude, I must say I’m a little surprised. Good job Mizzo it helps to know that some of these sports writers are actually human.

I don’t know. There are a lot of terminal thought cliches here. “Every one’s emulating the gangsta lifestyle” and “this culture is too secular” are claims about which we should be suspicious. I also find the type of Christianity mentioned here creepy, though I admit that is bigotry on my part (though also to some degree a reasonable position–there are many people within these groups who have no problem doing just about anything to the “least of us”). It does suck to write an uplifting story about a guy who ended up being the Luke Perry character in “Oz” (assuming he wasn’t wrongly convicted).

I’ll be perfectly honest. I understand what this site means to the contributors here. When I challenge people, or “call them out”, I only do it b/c there is so much blame to go around and it deserves to be spread evenly. It is NOT that I think white people are perfect or that I am a racist. Not even close. I just like to challenge people when I think they are defending people only b/c they happen to be black…no matter what they may have done. Some people will defend that by saying that if they don’t defend every black person, then….or black people wouldn’t be in that situation if the whites had not…so, I understand we will go around and around.

It does get tiring at times and I want to give up trying to give another perspective(mostly b/c I don’t think it is welcomed here most of the time). But, I’m not one of the “Vick should fry/hang/rot” crowd. Those white people are embarassing and contribute to the problem and the stereotype.

I just hope there is some good COLLEGE FOOTBALL fans here, b/c it is coming. I would much rather talk about that. Not sure if it will happen, but I have my fingers crossed.

Trust me, every brother or sister that gets in trouble
isn’t Mandela, contrary to what the extremists will have
you believe. The issue here has not been Vick’s guilt or
innocence, only how everything has been covered by the MSM.
Unfortunately, personal responsiblity in this day and time
has been cast aside in favor of excuses and justification for
bad behavior, and that bothers ALL right thinking people.
The beauty of the TSF is no one spared criticsm if it’s due,
but it comes from a totally different perspective than the
paint by numbers style of the MSM. The same can be said for
those of us who traffic this site, yourself included.

I wholeheartedly disagree with the belief that spirituality is needed.

Firstly, if Broussard thinks America is very secular, he needs to do some serious research.

I’m assuming when he says ‘spirituality’, he means pertaining to religion. The KKK is religious. The white slave owners were religious. There are thousands of religions. All religion is not good.

Education is more important than religion. Rather than scare children into thinking that God will send them to hell if they don’t abide and be moral- which plenty of religions continue to do- why not teach kids morals simply with compassion. Can’t we, human beings, be moral without religion? Unless we are mentally retarded, humans are able to understand how our actions would affect and be interpreted by others.

I cringe when anybody thanks God for their abilities and their success. Why are they more worthy than others? Maybe if they thank God for inspiring them to become great, it would be more warranted. But shouldn’t the goal to become what they want be sufficient enough, rather than relying on a supposed God to give them strength?

I won’t put words in Chris Broussard’s mouth, but he appears to have sufficient concern for Black folk and sufficient intelligence to know that there is a difference between spirituality and religion. I also understood him to be saying that spirituality was needed – not religion, per se. His interview revealed an understanding of persons of different faiths with similar objectives. He clearly articulates a Christian ethos, but I do not believe his values preclude collaboration with folks with different belief systems.

Babar: I believe you make some solid points about education as well. I have to say, though, that spirituality (as a synonym for ethics and character) is indispensable. Character without education leaves communities full of churches without the resources or infrastructure to sustain themselves on anything but liquor stores and music videos. Been there, done that, hated it. Education without character creates slaveocracies, Jim Crowism and neoconservatism. Been there, done that, hated it.

[…] have to wonder if he’d ask, “Seriously? We’re not equal ital:yet:ital?” Chris Broussard, Author, Senior Writer ESPN the Mag and ESPN the Mag …for a man [Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.] to come along and believe that he could change that […]

[…] last July when he sat on a panel discussion of the Black Athlete with Jemele Hill, Neal Scarbrough, Chris Broussard and David Aldridge. I was quite embarrassed I wasn’t altogether familiar with his body of […]

Assistant coaches Troy Collier, Steve Flint, William Howze and Ball State Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Jason Roberson attended practices during the Cardinals’ first two weeks of summer conditioning in May. The appearances are secondary violati…

[…] Joe Dumars is looking to wreck shop in the off season and no one is considered untouchable. Chris Broussard reports that Anthony’s agent Calvin Andrews was reassured by Nuggets brass that he will not […]